Submit to the authorities

In these most extraordinary days, governments of the world are having to make the most exceptional decisions – decisions that are having a profound impact on their citizens. Democratically elected governments are stripping people of their basic freedoms – limiting how often we can leave our homes, where we can go and what we can do. Their decisions are impacting livelihoods – flourishing businesses are being brought to a grinding halt. Some will never recover. Many will be financially ruined because of these new measures. Many more of us will never be as financially secure or as comfortable as we were before all this happened.

Of course, we know why the government is taking such radical decisions, but perhaps for some of us, the biblical command to submit to the authorities is proving more challenging than ever before.

Let me suggest, that often, what appears to be submission to the law of the land, is in fact us simply doing what we think is a good thing to do anyway. So we keep to the speed limit because we believe that driving at 30 mph in a built up area is safe and sensible. And we willingly pay our taxes because we have worked out that the services we receive from the state are for our good. But now, we’re being asked to do things that restrict our freedoms and rob us of financial security, and we may not like or agree with the decisions the government is taking.

Suddenly these words from Romans chapter 13 become extremely challenging. “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Romans 13:1)

Whenever I read those words, I find them remarkable. The governing authorities of the day were not democratically elected. And they were not themselves influenced by a Christian worldview. In fact, the authorities of the time could well have been accused of being immoral and self-serving. Yet, Paul still says that we should subject ourselves to the governing authorities and that God established them.

And then he adds, “Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:2)

The Bible says, to disobey the authorities is to disobey God. And if those in authority slap a fine on you for ignoring their social distancing protocols, then that fine is a judgement you have brought on yourself. Of course, if the governing authorities were to command us to disobey God’s Law or outlaw Christianity, at that point we should not obey them. At that point the governing authorities have gone beyond their God-given authority.

The Old Testament character Daniel is a terrific example for us to follow. Unceremoniously carted off to a foreign land and taken into exile, Daniel and his friends, obeyed the Babylonian authorities, but they wouldn’t act against God’s law. Daniel lived an exemplary life. He was a model citizen. He and his friends became respected in a foreign land. Daniel was given a place of distinguished authority. But when the king decreed that no-one should pray to any god, Daniel would not be shaken. He obeyed God, even though his commitment and obedience to God meant being thrown to the lions. Like Daniel, we should obey the governing authorities until they expect us to disobey God.

So, in these extraordinary times, being Christian means obeying the government. Even if we don’t agree with every decision they make. Our willingness to submit to human authorities should flow out of our submission to the kingly rule of Jesus. His word, the Bible, tells us to submit to those in authority and so, in submission to Him, we should submit to them.

The government has asked us to stay indoors, to socially distance ourselves, to self-isolate if we have symptoms of Covid-19. We’ve been asked to go out only to shop for essentials and for exercise once a day. We’ve been asked not to go to work if we can work from home, not to meet with anyone beyond our family group and not to make any unnecessary journeys. Rather than attempt to find loopholes to those commands, we should submit to the government.

And of course, it be should easier for us to submit to the authorities than it was for those who first read the book of Romans, because our government is democratically elected, and our leaders are making these decisions for the good of the many. Christian be the best citizen you can. And do it out of love for God and for others.

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